A delay in resolving immigration and race issues
in America spells
the demise of this Nation.

Therefore,

"Make Hay Early in the Day"

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

CULTURE orECONOMICS?

This Website
is proud to be first to have brought
forth and to clarify the concept that Culture and not Economics is the force
that sustains our American Nation.However, the adoption of the concept by only
the conservative movement as seen in recent weeks is not enough. Unless all sectors,including central and liberal,
participate, there is little hope we will be able in the future to retain the
greatness and preeminencewe have heretofore enjoyedat home and in the world at large.
(Mark Athanasios
C. Karras, M.A.
[Econ.], Ph.D.,
September 2009)

_______________

Despite
what may be the intended projection to influence public perception of reality;
for any society it is not economics that shapes its culture. The opposite is true. It is the
cultural underpinning that shapes the economic life of that society.

Regretfully, the
constancy with which reference is made to the notion of a global
economy
results in the obfuscation of that which is taking place. The phrase is a mask
used to conceal the actual event and to foster upon public opinion a
distorted impression of what occurs. It is a method imposed with
regularity in order to convince society to accept a distorted view of itself: that is, to deprive society of its ability to reason about
its actual condition.

The ultimate goal of this
approach is to rob people of their precious freedom; and thus to establish
control over the life of the greatest majority. This arrangement in essence is not
an economic but a cultural issue cast in the guise of an imperative economic event. The economic aspect is but a pivotal tool
toward the achievement of the ulterior goal. Thus, when a people
surrender their freedom by self-conviction, the loss is far more
devastating than an economic loss. All the wealth in the world loses most of its meaning if the holder is unable to use it as
desired. And, when society becomes convinced that its material prosperity,
or else lack—in the
absence of culture—is
the only measure of its worth; then, that society is a slave to its own
deception and also a subject to the will of anyone who controls its economic
life.

The concept of
globalization has an exclusive economic focus that lacks the element of the
meaning in human life. It is an instrument for particular gain within a reduced quarter
of the world’s population. Its endless pounding in the minds of people debases the fundamental conviction of freedom. The
method leads to the disintegration of the balanced economic function of established societies, lowering the standard of living
on a universal scale through the loss of the industrial base and
intellectual mass. The resulting economic deterioration by the
imposition of ill-apportioned international trade activities produces the
ultimate desired result; which is, universal control of a
culturally emaciated world population. This leads to the understanding that
it is not the world population who owns the
global economy; it is instead the global economy that owns the world
population. Thus,the central questions
become: Where does the final locus of control lie? Is such control as dispersed
as we are led to believe?

On the other hand, society
itself carries responsibility to foreclose on the intrusion imposed upon it.
That is, by allowing a deterioration or collapse of ethical and moral
integrity, it opens the door to the abuser who enters under the pretext of
help andaccommodation in support of
permissiveness. The activity becomes an accelerating downward spiral to the
ultimate weakeningand vanishment of social integrity
and will—unable to claim even the minimum of a civilized economic standard.

It must be remembered that the
US was heralded to become a great "service economy."
That scheme with its defunct and conveniently forgotten term paved the way for the
second stage, the "global economy"; which in turn
is being used to conceal the third but real stage, the "servant
economy"—a
condition of increasing subordination to indebtedness and dependence on others for major
material and financial needs of this Nation

¤ ¤ ¤ ¤ ¤

CAPITALISM vs. SOCIALISM

Capitalism is understood as an economic system. Yet, capitalism
is also the manifestation of the instinctive or natural human tendency toward
self-interest, initiative, independence, and self-preservation. Such behavior is
evident in all animal life and also in what concerns survival it exists in plant
life.

On the other hand, social affiliation and community emerge only as subsidiary needs that
serve to
relieve the pressing demands of capitalism. This complementary function to
capitalism is socialism.

Capitalism is thus an instinctive way of life; whereas socialism is a
provisional solution to a need. In the case of a capitalist system, the use of
socialist methods only modify it—and the system remains capitalistic. However,
in the case of socialism, when capitalist methods are applied, the system is
transformed to capitalism. Furthermore, socialism by itself is not sustainable
as it is only complementary to capitalism.

The existence of culture is not spontaneous.
It is the product of creativity and vigilance of society,which results in
an enduring interaction betweenthat culture and that society.Culture, therefore,
may become manipulated for the better or for the worse.____________Congress has direct responsibility
on the issue of integrity in the United States.

The
worth of a civilization is in part measured by its resistance to stagnation and by its threshold
of tolerance for change and its ability to absorb extraneous influences that
contribute to its durability and evolution.

Western Civilization displays the above
characteristics, albeit, included in its makeup as part of human behavior,
exists the not so infrequent element of error.Considered
in this context, the continuity of Western thought and way of life are perceived
as an uninterrupted stream of behavior with definable roots in the Hellenistic,
Hebraic, and Roman past, and with considerable influence from the Arab, Asian,
and also African quarters.

The more evident signs of this
amalgamation were manifested through Alexander the Great, followed by the Roman
influence and later by Byzantium -- an evolutionary mixture of Hellenistic
and Roman identity. The inevitable outcome was the continuation of
institutionalized behavior. The populations grew and expanded westward,
resulting in what is now in the Western Hemisphere.

The latter bears resemblance to its most
recent significant predecessor, namely, Byzantium. Europe was itself the child of that
previous larger world. The feudalistic and regal systems of Europe were a
deliberate imitation of a perceived enviable system of governance that had begun
with Constantine the Great and evolved through his successors. At
this point, however, the magnificent child of the West adopts an innovative form
to govern itself:

Its essence remains intact with all
the identifiable characteristics of its heredity. Although it moves forward
in full strength as the New Byzantium in the New World, it attempts
a bold modification in its form of government. It retains the principal desire
for human freedom, yet institutes order in the implementation of that
freedom. In other words, it salvages its predilection for democracy,
while at the same time it provides against the propensity for a "free for
all" on the pretext of that democracy.

Most eminent in this new arrangement is the United State of America with its founding of
the Republic and with its radiating influence throughout the Western
Hemisphere[it appears diminishing to
characterize the American
model of government as a mere "experiment," unique as it may be.
It
was a full-fledged design engineered by serious and competent
visionaries on the strength of their accumulated combined experience and study].What is significant, however, is the type of republic that it established.

_____________

The word
democracy
describes a concept that is absolute. Nothing can be appended to the word
to qualify its nature further. The etymology of the word is clear: the
Greek word "demos" means "the people" and "kratos
"(-cracy) means "rule" (suggestive of power). The two words combine to
render the singular message, "power of the people." There exist
no gradations or shades of democracy. Due to its fundamental meaning,
however, democracy as a word and as a concept may itself be a qualifier of other words or concepts.
It is redundant to use the term
"representative democracy" because democracy is by its own
nature representative. Danger underlies inaccurate verbiage in
that it
subordinates the concept of democracy to the concept of representation.
This dilutes the power of the people as the primary source of authority:
It tends to exaggerate the power entrusted in the representatives of the people instead
of strengthening the people's authority the representatives are delegated to
serve.

The basis of assignment of
public servants to any post, elected or appointed, is the power of the
people. This function is conducted by democratic means, which
renders effective the social and political system in the United States of America. Furthermore, the decisions
reached by the representatives of the power of the people are reached by democratic means of
deliberation and voting. This further accentuates the presence of democracy
in the Nation. The Constitution of the United States of America begins with
the words, "We the People . . . ." It does not
say, "we the representatives of the people."

_____________

The United States of America
is basedon a democracy that uses a specific governing mechanism to make
the system work. Democracy itself as a governing method in a population of
millions is a physical impossibility -- excepting Divine intervention.
No governing system exists, even by engaging the highest technology, that can
analyze, evaluate, and coordinate the thoughts and wishes of each and every
individual. The American method provides for this inadequacy by delegating
to a reduced number of persons the task of making the desired decisions.
The method involved is the establishment of the Republic.

Unlike a democracy, however, a republic, as both
a concept and a word, can be enhanced through other qualifying concepts
and words.* There are variations in the types of republics that may exist.
The American system may be described with accuracy as a Democratic Republic.
The qualifier in this case is the word democratic. It may also
be referenced as aConstitutional Republic—a
redundancy, since a
republic is a device set forth by a ruling instrument. Other alternatives that may exist are: Oligarchic Republic or representative
government whose delegates are appointed by the few who control the majority of
the people; Plutocratic Republic whose delegates are appointed by the
wealthy; Autocratic Republic whose delegates are appointed by one
person; Technocratic or Bureaucratic Republic whose delegates
are the work of special power interests entrenched in government; and, so
forth.

It is in this area that the American
system is sensitive: Citizens are under constant obligation to monitor and
control their delegated representatives (both elected and appointed) in order to
retain the strength, effectiveness, and purity of their system of government.
A democracy must be strong in order for a republic to be strong. To
discredit democracy is to exaggerate the true function of a republic—in order
to inflate the significance of the delegated servants of government. This,
in time, tends to obscure the distinction between the authority of government
and of those who serve that authority, which in actual terms rests in the power of the
people.

_____________

CONCLUSION

It is vague and inadequate to identify a nation
such as the United States of America as only a Republic: It is always
necessary to specify the type of republic that is involved. The United
States has adopted what appears to be the optimum system of a
Democratic Republic. A deviation can downgrade the system to a lower level
of governance of an oligarchic, then plutocratic, and soon thereafter of an autocratic
republic. The integrity of the system, therefore, is crucial in the
maintenance of the cultural setting within which the Republic survives.

The setting in this instance is the
inherited continuity of Western Civilization evolved from the Old World
in its maximum outreach to the New World or NEW
BYZANTIUM. Many
aspects of this continuing
Civilization are present and active to this day, including the tendency to
welcome and to assimilate contributions of other cultures and systems. It
is unreasonable, therefore, for some cultures to advocate the
destruction of the Western world, whereas they too have a stake in it and
have the chance to continue to do so.

_____________________________________________________*Similar to an oxymoron, often grounded in allegory
but never in logic, the notion of Constitutional Democracy is also illogical (cf., bitter sweetness).

Democracy is a state of being
and, as characterized above, absolute in nature: It is not a devised method of
governance but rather a tendency toward which society leans in the collective
struggle of individual wills. On the other hand, a constitutional
arrangement is a specific design
created by the will or power of the people (i.e., democracy) for the purpose of
establishing a form of government.

It is not possible for the
created to give existence to the creator. Therefore, democracy—a creative
absolute, fundamental and inimitable in nature—can not be compared or qualified as being of a
certain type. That which can
be qualified is the type of governance the democracy (i.e., the will or power of
the people) has created.

Expansion
of Western Civilization: from
Constantine
the Great to Constantinople
and Byzantium and onward toAmerica

NEW BYZANTIUMis The AMERICAS We are sincerely pleased you have come to visit our Site and we extend
to you our warmest greeting in the highest tradition of BYZANTIUM. Our Principal goal is to impart to you
heretofore intentionally little known facts about BYZANTIUM as the foundation of
Western Civilization.We will avoid knowingly withholding the truth as an aim to social
disorientation. Practice of historical deception must cease.We hope thatyou will enjoy our
contribution to the fullest.Welcome.Constantine the Great began his eventful climb in York, England and
reached the apex of his achievement in Constantinople, the City that he founded
and named after himself (Constantine+Polis [city]=Constantinople).
By means of these pages, our readers travel through time, touchingupon the early periods, including that of Constantine, of historicalConstantinople, and of Hagia Sophia—the nexus of the Christian world—toarrive atplaces and events of our present day.Our readers reach the outermost limit to which both Eastern and
Western Christian groups expanded, bringing forth the flower of Western
Civilization. That limit is the Western Hemisphere as a whole, and in
particular the coast of California near San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge
where the two groups converged as they approached from the North and from
the South.